Air-cycle.



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Patented Jan.9,1912.

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APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1911.

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JOSEPH H. PRICE, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

AIR-CYCLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 3, 1911.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

Serial No. 618,605.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPI-I H. PRICE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Worth, in the county of Tarrant and State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Cycles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to air-cycles or flying machines and moreparticularly to a machine which may be operated either by pedalsactuated by the feet or by a motor; and the object is to provide asimple device or machine with which a person can fly through the air atlow or high elevations at will and without so much weight as is requiredin machines which must be driven by powerful motors.

The principal object is to dispense with heavy engines which aregenerally used for driving flying machines and to provide a machine bywhich a person can sail or glide at will with power which he can producewith his feet.

Another object is to provide the machine with wings which are connectedto the machine by ball and socket joint by which a person can guide themachine with greater precision in making ascents or descents and othermovements, and to provide a rudder which is connected to a plane forco6perating with the wings.

Other objects and advantages will be fully explained in the followingdescription and the invention will be more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of thisapplication.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view, Fig.3 is a vertical section of the casing which incloses the driving gear,showing the arrangement of the driving gear. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection of the casing which incloses the ball bearing connections forthe wings. Fig. 5 is an end view of the coil springs which hold the ballbearings in place. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the gearing which ismounted in the lower part of the gear casing.

Similar characters of reference are used :to indicate the same partsthroughout the several views.

The improved machine is provided with a frame having an inclined portion1 and a horizontal portion 2 and a fork 3 connected to the horizontalportion 2. A fork 4 is connected with the lower end of the fork 3 andattached to the lower end of the casing 1. A wheel 5 is provided with ashaft 6 which is journaled in the fork 3 and a sprocket wheel 7 ismounted on the shaft 6 for driving the wheel 5. A shaft 8 is journaledin the lower part of the casing 1 and a sprocket chain 9 transmits thepower from the sprocket wheel 10 to the sprocket wheel 7. The shaft 8 isdriven by the pedals 11. A bevel gear wheel 12 is mounted on shaft 8 todrive a bevel pinion 13 which is mounted on a shaft 14. The shaft 14 isjournaled in bearings 15 in the casing 1. A bevel gear 16 is mounted onthe upper end of the shaft 14 to drive a bevel pinion 17 which ismounted on shaft 18. The shaft 18 is mounted in the casing 2 andprovided with a bearing 19 and drives the propeller 20. This completes adescription of one way of driving the machine. The machine can also bedriven by a motor 21 which is mounted in the casing 1. This motor isprovided with bevel gear wheels 22 and 23 and gear wheels 24 and 25 fordriving the shaft 14. The machine can be driven by foot power on thepedals or driven by the motor or driven by both foot power and themotor. The wheels 12 and 13 and 16 and 17 can be of suitable sizes tomultiply the speed of the shaft 18.

A supporting rod 26 is attached to the casing 1 and extends horizontallybackward to support the rudder 27 and the plane 28. This rod carries arear wheel 29 which is an idle wheel and connected to the rod 26 by ahanger 30. The rod 26 is braced by wires 31 and bar 32. A seat 33 ismounted on a spring bar 34 which is connected at one end to the casing 1and which is provided with a cuff 35 which is slidable on the rod 26.The seat 33 is further provided with a coil spring 36 for making theseat resilient or to form a cushion for the seat. The rudder can becontrolled by wires 37 which extend near the seat 33, where they can bemanually operated. A plane 38 is mounted above the seat and other partsof the machine. The plane 38 is supported from the casing 2 by anupright post- 39 with arms 39 and a post 40 and is provided withsuitable brace wires 41. The post 40 and the wires 41 are attached tothe rod 26. At the front end the plane is braced by wires 42 and arms39. Only a skeleton plane is shown in Fig. 2 so that the wing connectionmay be indicated.

43 indicates the frame of the plane.

Two wings 44 are provided for sailing purposes. The wings 44 areconnected to the machine by ball and socket joints. The balls 45 aremounted in sockets 46 which are mounted on the casing 1. The sockets 46are connected with each other by a tubular body 47 which may be securelybolted to the top of the casing 1. The balls are held in place by doubletension springs 48 and 49. The wings 44 are connected to the balls 45 byshanks 50 which may be parts of the frames of the wings. The wings aremovable manually by handles 51 which are provided with loops 52 forgrasping with the hand and also provided with rests 53 on which theforearms are braced in operating the wings. By means of these handlesthe wings can be manipulated by the hands. Means are provided forlocking the wings in stationary positions. A bell-crank lever 54 ispivotally connected with each socket and carries a pin 55 which bearsagainst the surface of the ball 45 which is pitted to receive the pin. A

spring 56 bears against the lever 54 and causes the lever to hold thepin 55 in engagement with the ball 45. A flexible cord or piece ofleather 57 is attached to the lever 54 and extends to a posit-ionsuitable for grasping with the hand. The loop 58 should be near the loop52. A pull on the thong or handle 57 will releasethe ball so that it canbe moved.

A portion 59 of each wing about the edges of the wing may be madeflexible to allow some elasticity in making sudden changes. Theflexibility of the edges will yield to some extent when making suddenchanges and yet for ordinary sailing purposes the flexible portions willperform the same functions as the rigid portions of the wings. Themachine is provided with wheels 5 and 29 for running on the ground. Thewheel 5 is also a driven wheel which will aid in propelling the machine.

In addition to the bearing 15, a bevel cog wheel 12 may be provided toprevent too much strain on the wheels 12 and 13. The

wheel 12 is loosely mounted on a bearing 15 which is attached to theinterior of the casing 1. This wheel 15 will tend to balance thepressure of the wheel 12, and thus prevent straining said wheel to oneside of the casing 1.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,

1. A flying machine having a frame including a tubular casing, apropeller, gearing including shafts journaled within said casing fordriving said propeller, a plane mounted on said frame, movable wingsbelow said plane, ball and socket joints mounted on said casing forconnecting said wings to the casing, and a yielding member connected tothe balls of said wings and tending to hold said wings in their normalpositions.

2. A flying machine having a frame including a tubular casing, apropeller, gearing including shafts journaled within said casing fordriving said propeller, a plane mounted on said frame above said casing,wings below said plane pivotally connected to said casing, handles foroperating said wings, a rudder and a horizontally disposed rodconnecting said rudder to said tubular casing.

3. A flying machine having a frame including a tubular casing and avertically disposed fork connected to the upper part of said casing anda horizontally disposed fork connected to the lower part of said casing,a shaft journaled in both forks, a balance wheel mounted on said shaft,a propeller, gearing including shafts journaled within said casing,pedals for actuating said gearing, a plane above said frame attachedthereto, wings below said plane pivotally connected to said casing, andarm rests and handles rigid with said wings for operating said wings.

4. A flying machine having a tubular casing, a frame connected with saidcasing, a propeller, gearing including shafts journaled within saidcasing for driving said propeller, a rudder connected to said casing, aplane above said frame attached thereto, wings below said plane, andmeans for pivotally connecting said wings to said machine consisting ofvballs and shanks attaching the wings to the balls, sockets for saidballs and a. tubular casing connecting said sockets, and coil springsconnected to said balls, and handles for operating said wings.

5. A flying machine having a tubular cas ing, a frame connected withsaid casing, a propeller, gearing including shafts journaled within saidcasing for driving said propeller, a rudder connected with said casing,a plane above said frame attached thereto, wings below said plane, ballsand shanks attaching said wings to said balls, a tubular casing havingsockets therein for said balls attached to said first named casing, coilsprings within said last named casing attached to said balls for holdingthe same in operative relation, handles for operating said wings, andmeans for locking said wings in diflerent operative positions.

In testimony whereof I set my hand in the presence of two witnesses,this 20th day of. February, 1911.

JOSEPH H. PRICE.

Witnesses:

A. L. JACKSON, J. K. MCOARTY.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

